Simon and I having reached an understanding and Fantine being terrified at the idea of ever again thieving, I decided to indoctrinate her to my way of doing things. The next morning, I took her with me to the patisserie. The result of doing so, however, caught me by surprise, leading to much more than I had bargained for.

As I made my usual, admittedly shameless, request for leftovers, Fantine gazed longingly at a chocolate éclair, taunting her at eye level from the store counter. I couldn't help noticing the patisserie lady watching her.

She nodded distractedly after I had finished my daily plea, and then, instead of going to the back of the store in order to hurriedly have me gone (after all, her charity only extended so far--she couldn't have her customers disturbed by dirty children lingering about her place of business), she spoke to Fantine. "Do you like chocolate, dearie?"

Fantine, startled by having been directly addressed, hesitated, then nodded shyly.

"Well, then..." said the shop owner, handing the pastry to Fantine, "you ought to have spoken up before."

Fantine and I both stared at the éclair in disbelief. Hers was pleased, while mine was confused. I had stared at the éclairs many times to no avail, before I had finally hardened myself against such longings. However, upon reflection, it made some sense. While I was rather plain, with stringy black hair, dull gray eyes, and freckles, Fantine more closely resembled the dolls that could be seen in the toy store windows frequented by rich children and their parents. Apparently, the patisserie lady couldn't bring herself to refuse such a doll.

"I'll get the rolls," she then said to me, her tone abruptly shifting from one of admiration to one of disdain. I nodded, then glanced back to see Fantine perched on the edge of a crate, daintily eating her pastry. Noticing me, she stopped guiltily. "You want half, Elise?"

I smiled slightly and shook my head. "Nah, it's alright."

She hesitated before continuing to eat, making sure I really meant it. I had. After all, she had earned it. It seemed that just as Simon's pick-pocketing skills and my persuasive begging worked for us, Fantine's beauty worked for her. I found myself wondering which of our respective skills would get us the farthest, then smiled wryly at my own quandary. At this point, Fantine seemed to be coming out on top, and with the least amount of effort, at that.

"Here," said the patisserie lady as she unceremoniously tossed the bag of stale rolls in my direction. But then she hesitated and seemed to soften a bit. "The little girl," she said to me quietly. "Who is she?"

I hesitated, just as unwilling to reveal information about others as I was about myself. I'd found being too open wasn't the best way to get by, and could mean more trouble than it was worth. Nevertheless, the question seemed harmless enough, and I couldn't risk losing one of my few benefactors.

"An orphan," I responded, then added dryly, "like the rest of us."

The patisserie lady sighed. "Such a shame. She's an adorable child, and so sweet. Doesn't deserve a life on the streets."

Helplessly, I felt my face flush with shame and bit off an angry retort. Fantine, adorable and sweet though she may be, was no more human than the more homely homeless. When I could trust myself to open my mouth and be civil, I simply responded, "Yes, well I watch out for her." Somehow, I could no longer look the lady in the eye.

"I'm sure you do," she responded, with what I thought was a hint of sarcasm.

I sighed, unable to take much more of this. "Yes, well, thank you for the rolls." I paused. "And the éclair. Come on, Fantine."

"Wait," said the patisserie lady. "I have a proposition for you."

I frowned. "Sorry?"

"My brother-in-law owns a farm, several miles north of here. My sister is with child, and they need some help with light labor, feeding the animals, milking the cows...that sort of task." She paused. "It would mean a roof over your heads, and decent meals."

"Animals? Do they have cats? I used to have a kitten," Fantine offered. I couldn't help but be annoyed by her sudden uncharacteristic outburst. It added to my already surprised, uncertain, frustrated state. One the one hand, this was a good offer...provided the people weren't horrible. But on the other, I had gotten by on my own for nearly five years and had done just fine. While I was accepting of charity, this was almost too much for my pride to handle, especially knowing in what low regard the patisserie lady held me.

I began to refuse the offer, but then stopped myself upon noticed Fantine's expression. She was grinning for the first time since I had seen her, and, upon having learned that these people did indeed have cats, was chatting excitedly about her own and wondering aloud whether they would allow her to help care for theirs.

I swallowed, and took advantage of a moment when Fantine paused to take a breath. "I could go with her?"

"Of course," the patisserie lady responded, this time with evident disdain. I knew she thought that I wanted to make sure I got something out of this, but I didn't care. In truth, there wasn't any way that I would let Fantine go off to these people without knowing of their characters. She still couldn't stand up for herself if she needed to, and while this situation seemed as though it would be preferable to her current one, I wanted to be able to help her escape it if such was not the case.

"Thank you," I said, working to unclench my jaw. "It...it sounds like a wonderful opportunity."

"It is," said the lady. "Thank God for it...not many are so lucky."

I stared at the slats of the wooden floor, this time knowing that I couldn't trust myself to speak.

"I'll send someone to pick the two of you up within a week's time. Don't stray too far."

"Well, that's what us 'strays' tend to do, but we'll try hard to stay put." I bit my lip, cursing my stupidity. I had learned that acting on anger was dangerous when you were in no position to do so.

"Careful, girl. Don't forget that I'm going out of my way to help you."

"I'm not...I mean, I didn't. Sorry," I managed.

"Yes, well, see that you don't ruin this for yourself. I'll get everything set up, providing you don't give me reason not to."

"I understand, Madame." Throughout this exchange, Fantine was standing there silently, confused as to why the conversation had shifted from a pleasant chat about kittens to a threatening lecture. "Fantine, thank Madame," I said quietly, deciding that I might as well teach her to grovel, in case her beauty should ever fail her.

"Thank you, Madame!" Fantine said with a big smile, which, as I had predicted, greatly pleased the patisserie lady.

"Of course, dearie," the lady responded. "And if you ever need a thing, just come let me know. I hope you find a kitten you like!"

With that, we left. I felt numb, still unable to process everything that had transpired, and still not sure how I felt about it all.

In a few minutes, Simon walked up. "How'd you make out today, Ellie?" Without waiting for a response, he turned to Fantine and laughed. "Looks like you did okay, Mouse. Saving some of that for later?"

Fantine, with the tell-tale traces of chocolate indeed present on her face, giggled. "Guess what, Simon! The patisserie lady gave me an éclair, and she's gonna let me and Elise--"

"Come back for another one tomorrow," I broke in. For a reason I couldn't quite place, I found myself unable and unwilling to explain to Simon what had transpired...what I had agreed to.

"Well, I might have to try your way after all, Ellie, if it means daily éclairs!" Simon smiled.

I shook my head, responding with an attempt at a smile. "It's Fantine's way that gets éclairs. Mine still only gets the stale rolls."